Program

Hometown Heritage®

Subject

Building, Education

Location

526 Gladden St, Washington, NC 27889, USA

Lat/Long

35.548810742325, -77.054690320608

Grant Recipient

City of Washington

The Spring Garden Missionary Baptist Church is said to have been started in the 1840’s, with the congregation convening under a cedar tree on 5^th street, and the Gladden St. building possibly being built in 1866 to house them. The church’s annex houses its educational building, a one room schoolhouse in which the Washington Industrial High School was started.

As early as May 1914, they were issuing graduation certificates, implying that they began teaching students in 1910. In November of 1910, Booker T. Washington visited and gave a speech on the importance of vocational education for the African American community. Booker T. Washington was in correspondence with a few of the notable pastors and reverends in the area, and his teaching philosophy took root in the area, likely influencing the creation of this school.

The Washington Industrial High School held here was likely the first high school for African Americans in the city. It is thought that the next high school was started in 1924. Today it is still used by the church for educational purposes.

See our other marker for the visit of Dr. Booker T. Washington on our marker map.